Scotland, Ireland knew there would be no Super Over after tie

Peter Della Penna is an American cricket journalist who also writes for ESPNcricinfo.com and DreamCricket.com. Since 2010, he has penned the USA entry in the Cricket Round the World section of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.Follow Peter on Twitter @PeterDellaPenna

Team representatives from both Ireland and Scotland camps have said there was no plan in place for a Super Over to be played after their tied match on Sunday in Deventer. The fourth game of the tri-series became the first T20 international that ended in a tie which wasn't decided by either a Super Over or a bowl-out, even though playing a Super Over is the current provision in the ICC's playing conditions in T20Is after a match is tied.

"We weren't expecting one," Ireland team manager Chris Siddell told ESPNcricinfo shortly after the match when he was asked why no Super Over had been played. The match had been livestreamed online by the Netherlands Cricket Board (KNCB), but players on both sides started shaking hands immediately after Stuart Thompson scampered a two to long-on off the final ball to level the scores in Ireland's chase of 186.

"Players on both sides didn't hesitate at the end and shook hands knowing it was the finish," Siddell said.

Under the ICC playing conditions for T20Is adopted on September 28, 2017, Law 16.3.1 reads: "If the scores are equal, the result shall be a tie and no account shall be taken of the number of wickets that have fallen. In the event of a tied match the teams shall compete in a Super Over to determine the winner."

Siddell said he was well aware of the law. "My understanding is it's not mandatory and playing conditions of specific tournaments or series dictate if there is or isn't one," he said before referencing Appendix F of the ICC playing conditions, which lays out regulations for a Super Over and the reasons for not having one.

The reasons given for a Super Over not being played are weather conditions such as rain or failing light between the final ball of the match and the 10-minute interval before the start of the Super Over, or previous delays resulting in the match exceeding its allotted time. However, there were no delays in Sunday's T20I due to weather or any other reasons. The final ball was bowled at 8.22pm local time and the official sunset time in Deventer was 9.59pm.

Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer said that, like Siddell, he was also under the impression that the Super Over had been discarded for the tri-series.

"It was just said at the start of the competition that there will be no Super Over," Coetzer wrote in a text to ESPNcricinfo after the tie. "I think [ICC match referee David] Jukes said it. Not sure where or why the decision was made."

ESPNcricinfo reached out to ICC officials in Dubai for a comment on the matter but repeated emails did not receive a response.

In the nine prior ties in men's T20 internationals, the first three were decided by a bowl-out, with the most famous instance occurring during the group stage of the 2007 World T20 in South Africa when India defeated Pakistan. The subsequent six tied matches were all decided by a Super Over, with the most recent being England beating Pakistan in the third T20I in Sharjah in November 2015.